go to work and come back and now there's 70 of them left, the tea party guys. these are guys that went to congress not to limit government but to stop it. so what are you going to do? we have five democrats, five republicans that range from dick durbin from illinois and coburn of oklahoma, progressive conservative and five dems, five ren, one independent. that is a super majority. and for god sake, the reason we were so successful is that we effectively pissed off everybody in america. >> congratulations, sir. kudos. kudos to you. >> and there you go. alan simpson painting a bleak picture behind the scenes of the fiscal cliff negotiations. good morning. this is "way too early." thanks for being up with us this morning. we have a lot to get to on this thursday, december 6. >> including president obama actually making his appeal to business leaders on his tax plan. he's now reaching out following

a very tough election campaign. >> and overseas, protests get violent in egypt where the once stable nation appears to be on the verge of crisis. first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 here at 30 rock in new york city. we begin with 25 days to go until the year end fiscal cliff deadline for the first time in days president obama and speaker boehner spoke on the phone yesterday. both men agreeing not to publicly characterize how the conversation went. but the stalemate in negotiations entered bold new territory yesterday with treasury secretary tim geithner suggesting the white house is ready to go off the cliff if republicans refuse to raise taxes on the top 2%. >> if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. again, there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthiest members. only 2%. the size of the problem in some

sense is so large it can't be solved without rates going up. again, there is broad recognition of that reality now. >> one fallback option, republicans are reportedly considering to accept tax cuts for the middle class, allow rates to go up to the wealthiest and then start the fight all over again during debt limit talks early next year. yesterday at a business roundtable of ceos, president obama took a hard line warning opponents not to consider the strategy. >> if congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation which by the way we have never done in our history until we did it last year, i will not play that game. >> senator tom coburn yesterday on "morning joe" became the latest to break ranks saying he

could support president obama's tax proposal. he joins a growing group of people urging house leadership to clear the way for a broad deal that would include tax increases on the wealthy. however, according to "the new york times," speaker boehner is enjoying broad support from within his own caucus. and yesterday boehner stuck to his guns favoring closing tax loopholes and capping deductions to raising taxes. >> now the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from guess who? the rich. there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates which we believe will harm our economy. >> and new polling by the associated press could strengthen the president's hand in negotiations. 48% of americans say they support the idea of raising taxes on the highest earners. that's compared to 32% who say tax cuts should continue for

everyone. >> well, hillary clinton says she insists that she wants to get out of politics. but a new poll shows that the majority of americans are hoping she has a change of heart. the latest abc news/"washington post" poll shows 50% of americans would vote for hillary clinton in 2016. 37% would oppose such a campaign. hillary clinton also has a strong bid of support in her home state of new york where 54% of voters say she would make a great runner. but new yorkers are not so enthusiastic about the current governor jumping into the race. 39% support andrew cuomo's 2016 presidential bid. and more on 2016, already casino mogul is also looking toward 2016 after spending almost $150 million on the 2012 election, the billionaire is vowing to continue funding conservative candidates. in fact, he says he's willing to spend even more money in the

next election. so the courting begins. at a recent vent for republican governors, he met with louisiana's bobby jindal. it should be noted, money doesn't always buy victories. $150 million adelson donated, these groups across the country, only one senator dean hellor of nevada actually won his race. >> look at that. senator marco rubio is taking a second crack at science. he's trying again. he's clarifying an answer he gave gq last month when asked about the age of the earth. rubio took some grief for saying in part he was not qualified to answer. >> he's not a scientists, man. >> calling it one of life's great mysteries. >> that and like why is hair growing on my knuckles.

>> we should ask him. at a breakfast yesterday, mark allen gave the senator a chance to explain his answer. >> so how old do you think the earth is? >> let me tell you the answer i gave. the answer i gave was trying to make the same point the president made a few years ago. that is there is no scientific debate on the age of the earth. it's established at a pretty definitively, at least 4.5 billion years old. i was referring to a thee lodgeal debate which is a pretty healthy debate. >> that's good. >> rubio said he wished he had explained his point more clearly in the gq article and joked it deposit get much attention outside of washington. >> you know, actually, i think that was a good answer. >> that's a good answer. >> that's a good cleanup yesterday. and that's all you can expect from somebody. >> all right. more shakeups in citigroup. less than two months after the ceo was pushed out, the bank is going to lay off 11,000 workers worldwide to become more manageable and profitable.

let's take an early look at the markets. cnbc's jeff cutmore is live in london for us. man, the bad news keeps coming out of citi. >> it is staggering. i thought for the benefit of this conversation i'd just have a look at the population of some u.s. cities and towns and in flint, michigan, they come in at over 100,000 here. and west palm beach, florida, just over 100,000. and that's basically less than citigroup have laid off since the financial crisis. 96,500 jobs gone at various units across the business, up to to 2011. and now they're adding on top of that another 11,000 across various businesses here. just try to save the company about $1 billion. that is just quite remarkable when you put it up against the size of flint, michigan. moving you all, i want to talk about apple here. shocking day in the market for

them yesterday. the worst decline in four years for this stock. they are now officially once again in bad territory with a 23% decline from the all time high on the share price. the market getting a little nervous about competition particularly in the china market. is it possible that nokia may have a crowd pleaser in the future to take on the iphone? i don't know. it is something analysts are chewing over and it's another reason why apple had another rocky day in the markets. >> jeff cutmore live from london. thank you. there are alarming new developments involving the crisis in syria. pentagon sources tell nbc news there is specific intelligence suggesting the syrian government has loaded sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, into aerial bombs and is awaiting command from president assad for its use. it comes as the fighting grows more intense and the rebels continue to advance into the capital city of damascus.

yesterday secretary of state hillary clinton repeated her warning that the u.s. is ready to take swift action. >> our concerns are that increasingly desperate assad regime might turn to chemical weapons or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within syria. we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line. and those responsible would be held to account. >> u.s. officials stress the chemical bonds remain in storage depots and president assad has not issued any warning to use them. egypt is going into political turmoil after intense clashes on the doorstep of the presidential palace. it's the largest confrontation the country has seen since the revolution that overthrew mubarak. tens of thousands of supporters of president morsi remain

divided. critics of morsi say he's attempting to establish a new dictatorship by rushing through a new constitution with an islamic agenda. the loss of american jazz legend. you probably recognize his song you're hearing now. "take five" of dave brubeck. he died yesterday of heart failure just one day shy of his 92nd birthday. a composer and pianist, he redefined american jazz in the 1950s and '60s and was a jazz pop star. "take five" was the first jazz recording to sell over a million copies. in november of 1954, he played huz way on to the cover of "time" magazine, becoming only the second jazz musician after louie armstrong to make the cover. later in life, he was named a jazz master by the national endowment of the arts and received a kennedy center honor for his contribution to american

culture. brubeck is survived by his wife of 70 years, a daughter and four sons who are also musicians. >> that's a legacy. before we head to break, a quick reminder, shoot us an e-mail or tweet us and let us know why in the world you are awake. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too early," the greg mcelroy era is over. mark sanchez is announced as the starter this weekend at jacksonville with tebow as the backup. >> why would you want greg mcelroy to play this week? he only won the game last week for the jets. >> right. >> rex ryan, he needs to go. >> we're going to play you a piece of yesterday's news conference. that story and a check of weather when "way too early" comes right back. ♪ if it wasn't for you

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it's a cold morning. we're back into december type weather. great lakes and through new england. wind chills this morning, especially in new england are a little bit on the brutal side. down into the teens and even single digits there in northern maine. all the way down to washington, d.c. it's a morning where you want to throw on the heavy winter coat, gloves and hats for the kids. in chicago it's chilly too. this afternoon we'll see sunshine. it will be a nice mid-atlantic period. the midwest is already warmed up after a little recent cold spurt. look at dallas still, mid 70s. we head towards the middle of december. let me show you examples of the forecast over the next couple days. enjoy the sunshine today in the mid-atlantic and northeast. we're going to go through a cloudy period with periods of on and off light rain friday through monday. so this upcoming weekend, don't expect a lot of sunshine. the only really winter weather i can find across the country is in the northern plains. highs in the low 30s with on and off chances of light snow. once again, guys, no big sn snowstor

snowstorms. no huge outbreaks of air. we'll be gloomy the next four or five days. >> all right. thank you so much. really appreciate. that. >> thank you, bill. now it's time for sports. and a decision baffled many in new york and across america. jets coach rex ryan decided to stay with mark sanchez as a stater for sunday's road game against the jaguars. he also indicated that greg mcelroy, the alabama graduate who threw the game winning touchdown for the jets last week, well, he's not going to play on sunday. he's going to be inactive and actually bumped down to the number three quarterback behind tim tebow. yesterday ryan actually tried to explain why he would bench the guy that won the game last week and play the guy that played so mizerbly f emizerbly. >> it's my decision and i'm comfortable with the decision.

i'm actually looking forward to seeing mark play. i believe mark has a skill set that, you know, is pretty impressive. he can make all the throws. the thing that mark needs to do a better job of is protecting the ball. >> mark needs to do a better job of is playing football. i really am seriously starting to wonder whether rex ryan guaranteed a big salary if he gets fired. because he's -- he looks like he's trying to get fired. he's playing one of the worst quarterbacks in the nfl over the last two seasons. >> and bill would know. >> sanchez has the second most turnovers in the nfl. and last week -- >> sloppy bad decisions. they're lucky they're in jacksonville. if they were at home, the fans would go nuts. people are done. >> and you know what? i've always liked rex ryan. i'm done with rex ryan. i mean he has taken this ship down. he's got a guys that led the nfl

in turnovers over the past couple -- what other team would start sanchez in the nfl? >> nobody. be in would certainly pay him $8 million. tim tebow can get a job somewhere else. and greg mcelroy, you know -- he's got a future. last week sanchez tanked for three quarters. they bring in the third stringer. he wins the game. and now they're putting him inactive. i'm serious, rex ryan looks like he wants to be fired. >> exactly. >> this is the worst coaching i've seen. >> this analysis is credible. you guys would know something about trying to get fired. to the nba now. >> it never works. i keep trying to get fired. >> i know. kobe bryant joint wilt chamberlain and michael jordan as a player in the history to score 30,000 points. at 34 years and 104 days old, to be exact. bryant is the youngest player to reach the milestone.

michael jordan didn't join the 30,000 point club until he was nearly 39 years old. >> and finally, espn sources confirm the rumor that free agent outfielder josh hamilton met with red sox general manager on monday. however, the red sox signed shane victorino to a three-year, $39 million deal yesterday making the prospect of hamilton coming up to boston and watching flyballs fall helplessly at his feet more unlikely. >> all right. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the president signals he is ready to take the plunge over the fiscal cliff if he doesn't get the tax increases over the wealthy. but will republicans agree to a broader deal? we have that conversation just ahead. when we come back right here, we're going to huddle around the water cooler. we have to get some space. let's put them in another room.

allen simpson resorts to dancing "gangnam style" to make people interested about the debt. >> that's not pretty. >> we'll be right back.

i'm over. i'm done. >> let's go to the control room. >> we hear it's a strong -- >> what's your nickname? >> i know you know korean pop phenom and his song is one of your favorites. >> you should see my brother do this. >> you're not alone. it's youtube's most watched video. it even rubbed off on the debate over the national debt, specifically on 81-year-old senator allen simpson. >> stop instagramming your breakfast and getting on youtube until you can see "gangnam style." ♪ and start using those precious social media skills and go out and sign people up on this baby,

three people a week. let it grow. take part or get taken apart. >> push, push. cowboy is riding. cowboy is riding. >> senator simpson filled in for can kicks back organization. it is made of young people. he's trying to pressure congress to fix the debt. >> that's not going to do the trick. >> senator simpson related it to riding his pony back in the home state of wyoming. >> seriously, i don't want to see that. do you have any stories on pizza hut perfume? i'm looking for something special for that special person. i think pizza hut perfume would do the trick. >> well, pizza hut is always known for innovation. they have the stuff crust peizz. they produced the cheeseburger pizza. >> i love that. >> deadly. >> delicious. it's delicious. now they have a pizza hut

perfume, i call it php. they're bringing it to market. they only have 100 of these perfumes. it started as a joke and now it's a reality. you will not be able to get this perfume. >> smell you later. >> when it's at saks on shelves, i'll let you know. >> i don't know where to begin. >> what's wrong with the cooler? >> it wasn't a strong debate. i tell you what though, i would love -- in fact, if i had that perfume, i would spray it on my face. seriously. >> it's like open a hot box of pizza hut pizza. >> i have to have that. do i go on the black market now? >> they say 60% of the time it works every time. pizza hut perfume. >> i don't know what's going on here. take the tease, lewis. >> still ahead on "way too early," why are awe wake? your tweets, texts and e-mails

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